Toy Against Toy
by Elliot Pole
Summary: The 76th annual Hunger Games is under way! The returning champions are coming back to face kids younger than they've ever faced before. They will each be accompanied by toys from the early twenty-first century.
1. Chapter 1

**Toy Against Toy**

**Chapter One**

Hamm and Mr. Potato Head were playing Yahtzee with Totoro. Buttercup was chatting with a Fluttershy McDonald's toy that Bonnie had gotten recently. She was a little small for him, but boy she could flirt! Mr. Pricklepants was training the aliens for a performance of _Measure for Measure_. Woody was moodily watching Buzz and Jessie holding hands and watching the sunset out the window. It had finally started to Dawnn on Woody that life without a girlfriend was depressing, especially when your best friend had a girl of his own whom he spent a lot of time with.

But being moody did not suit Woody much, despite the eye rhyme between his name and that adjective. Instead he started saying to himself, :"Oh, Bo."

Rex was conked out after a night of video-gaming. Trixie sat before the computer. She was ignoring the e-mail flash message from the "dinosaur down the street," whom she had never told Rex about. And she never would tell him about Ferragus. Ferragus was what she needed before she met Rex, and Rex being in her life ended the need for Ferragus. Trixie had set up a block from Ferragus sending her e-mail but his owner must have gotten a counter-block because now Ferragus could get a message through. Luckily Rex was usually too hung up on his video-gaming to notice, but Trixie still worried he would find out.

Though Rex did have a very forgiving personality, so maybe he would understand…

All the same, she felt the need to type "Counte-blocker blocker" in Google to find a way to stop Ferragus' messages from getting through.

A pop-up message appeared on her screen just as she was about to download the Fixmeister 9000. Trixie was thinking of ignoring the pop-up but it took up the whole screen.

_URGENT!: You are wanted for the 76th annual Hunger Games! We need toys, and we are sending this message back though time so that toys from centuries ago in the first decade of the Century of Discontent can compete with children chosen for this event. _

_When you and all that are coming with you are gathered in front of the computer, hit the flashing green button below and you will be INSTANTLY transported to our time zone. Don't miss this once in a toy's lifetime opportunity!_

"Guys, guys!" Trixie shouted, but everyone was so busy in their activities that they didn't hear her. "Attention! Guys, you gotta come see this!"

Woody came over but the other toys remained intent in their work. "What is it, Trixie?"

"Read that," the triceratops said.

Woody read the message. "Are you sure this is not some kind of prank?"

"Hold on, let me try something," Trixie said. She hit a number of keys. The screen did not change. "Oh, my."

"What is it?"

"This pop-up isn't in binary code."

That meant didley-suat to Woody. "And?"

"It's not even reverse binary. There are some programs made where all the binary codes are switched around. This one has some of the 0's and 1's in the right place, but there are things intresspered between these 0's and 1's that look like lower-case versions of the letter A."

"I don't see anything except the message."

"You don't? But I've put the computer in binary form. Only this program isn't binary or reverse binary. But if you can't see the binary symbols on the screen, then…"

Trixie punched a button and a creature in a black cloak appeared. It raised a skeletal hand as if ready to remove its hood.

"What is that?" Woody asked.

"A dementor from _Harry Potter and the Dungeon Seeds_. Which at first I thought was a hacked game, but I don't think so anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because when Rex was playing it, he said that it asked him to punch keys a couple of times and exhibited a design that does not exist on any computer in the known world."

"So what are you saying?"

"This message could not exist with present-day technology."

"What is that hooded creature doing?" Woody asked.

"Looks like its about to give us a Kiss."

Woody got a sense of foreboding, though he didn't know what it was from. "Delete it!"

"I'm trying. There. I hit alt, ctrl, and del at the same time."

"It's still there!"

"Oh no," Trixie said, staring at the screen. "It's asking me to hit a key that doesn't exist yet!"

Woody say the symbol. It looked like a pyramid with a fish fin and had a blue outline. But the keys on the keyboard didn't include any symbols like that.

"So, what's about to happen?"

**Would you like to see me explode this computer? **read a speech bubble above the dementor.

"It can't do that, can it?" Woody asked.

"Let me see," Trixie said, punching more buttons. Then her features froze. "It can. We only have one option. Hit the green button, or die."

Woody whistled. "Staff meeting everybody!"

All the toys came near, except Chuckles who was still in the windowsill.

"Chuckles, you are needed to," Woody said.

The clown came down.

"There is an invitation here to go to the future," Woody said.

"The future?" Hamm asked.

"That's preposterous!" Mr. Potato Head said.

"I know this sounds insane."

"We should all read it," someone said.

"We don't have time for that!" Woody said. "Buzz, would you get up here and do the honors?"

"Buzz read aloud what was written on the message. The toys in the front nodded to the ones in the back, indicating that Buzz was reading what was written there verbatim.

"What's that right there?" Mr. Potat Head asked.

"What's going on?" Rex asked groggily, having just woken up.

"Tell us what that hooded figure is," Mr. Potato Head said.

Rex looked at the screen. "Oh, that's the dementor from the hacked Harry Potter game."

"Sweetheart, it wasn't hacked," Trixie said.

"Yes, it was."

"No, it was from the future."

"You are all lonny," Buttercup said appreciately.

"But—how can it be from the-?" Rex came forward and read the message, then roved over to the dementor. "It's counting down!"

**25…24...23**

"But it wasn't couting down before!" Trixie exclaimed, frantically typing keys.

"Buzz, what do you think we should do?" Woody asked.

"If it were up to me, I'd press the green button."

"Guys, I think it's best we go," Woody said. "The future is safer than being killed by an exploding computer."

"What about Bonnie?" Hamm asked.

There was a murmur through the toys.

"She isn't here right now, so I doubt she'll get hurt," Woody said. "Except that we won't be here when she wants to play with us."

It was a sad moment, as all the toys had their heads bowed. But there was no time for dilly-dallying.

Woody nodded to Trixie, who roved the cursor over the green button and was about to click on it when one of the three aliens spoke up.

"Teach, if you don't mind, we would like to stay here," one of the aliens said. "We need to practice our Shakespeare."

"Too right you do," Mr. Pricklepants said. "I almost rather'd be here than go. I'm not sure I'll have any time to go through my motions."

"You'll be on vacation. No need to work on vacation," said Mrs. Potato Head.

"I think you'd three better hide in the hallway," Woody said to the aliens. They dashed for it. The door shut behind them and Trixie hit the green button just as the dementor reached **02**.


	2. Chapter 2

**Toy Against Toy**

**Chapter Two**

"Welcome, toys!"

There was a flash of white light. Then the toys opened their eyes in a room with a large machine in the center, which made whirring and beeping noises.

What had addressed them was a plush sky-blue octopus.

"I am Sian," the plush octopus said. "I am here to tell you what will be expected of you in the Hunger Games."

Bonnie's toys were still disoriented. Mr. Potato Head had his hand on his head. Mrs. Potato Head looked sick. Jessie could barely open her eyes, and Woody felt as if had just been punched in the stomach by a robotic Donkey Kong. Slinky was all twisted around everyone. Totoro was flipped upside-down with no room to upright himself. The Peas-in-a-Pod were all shaken up. Buzz didn't know that a toy could feel this way, since toys didn't eat food (most of the time), but he felt like he could hurl at any moment.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot about time-sickness," the plush octopus said. "It always happens when one travels to a different time period from their own."

The octopus sprayed something in everyone's faces. "Hey, I feel better!" Dolly exclaimed.

"This is instant time-sickness removal powder," the octopus said. "Really useful for all those that time-travel. You toys won't be the only time-travelers at this year's Hunger Games."

"But what exactly _is _the Hunger Games?" Woody asked.

"It is a competition whereby children face off against each other to the death. There are twenty-four Tributes and only one winner. Well, up until two years ago that was the case. Then there was two winners, and last year there were five winners. Though last year _was _a quarter quell, so there were still over forty dead, even with the five winners. One was taking prisoner, I think."

"Wait, are you saying we have to kill each other?" Buzz asked.

"Oh no. You guys are not your own opponents. Per se, that is.."

"What do you mean by that?" Mr. Pricklepants asked.

"Well, you see—and this is why I'm here, to get you used to the idea—you guys will be having human partners in this tournament."

"Oh no. I don't know what it's like in your time period, pal, but in our time, we have a rule against toys revealing that they are alive to people," Hamm said.

"We know your fears," Sian said. "But that rule is still in place."

"Then why do you expect us to join with the humans? Do you think we'll remain lifeless while everyone attacks everybody?" Woody asked.

"You'll be living and breathing, and they'll know it," Sian said.

"That defies the laws of nature!" Trixie exclaimed.

"Look, I know what you're afraid of," Sian said. "You're afraid of the secret getting out. It's not going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because they will believe you are being controlled by someone in artificial intelligence."

"Hey! That's no way to speak about us!" Mrs. Potato Head declared.

"I wasn't slighting you. It's just the only way that the secret will not get out."

"I guess it's better than nothing," Buttercup said.

"Just at that moment, another group of toys emerged.

"Greetings! I am Sian."

The new toys were recognizable as several from Sunnyside Daycare, including Twitch, Stretch, and Sparks. Ken and Barbie were absent, though.

The toys from sunnyside were disoriented. Sian sprayed the powder on them that it had sprayed on Bonnie's toys earlier.

"Where are we?" Chunk said.

"In the future, to participate in the Hunger Games!" Sian said, excitedly. "Well, it's the future for you. For me it's the present."

"I pressed a button on the computer that brought us here," Stretch said. "What were _you _doing?"

"I was busy napping," Chunk said.

"Could someone explain to us what the Hunger Games is?" Twitch said.

"The Hunger Games is a tournament where children fight to the death," Sian said. "Only one winner can emerge, after everyone else is dead."

"That's heinous," Stretch said. "I have seen so many kids go through the daycare…I'd hate to think of them killing each other once they get out."

"Oh, none of the participants are as young as day care age," Sian said. "They are all at least twelve."

"Twelve-year-olds don't play with toys," Sparks the robot said.

"Our kid stopped playing with us when he was twelve," Slinky said. "Sad times."

"Oh, this year there are a lot younger kids. The returning champions, of course, are still twelve. But the others are far younger."

"Wait, us toys have to kill each other too?" Sparks asked.

"That is not your main goal. Your main goal is to protect the human you are partnering with, and your secondary goal is to fight other toys that might try to cut through your defenses of your human partner."

"We're going to be paired up with humans?" Twitch asked. "So we'll be lifeless the whole time?"

"No, you'll be alive. They'll think you're being controlled."

"This whole thing sounds silly," Sparks said.

"Silly or not, it's the way things are."

"It's against the toy code," said Twitch.

"_We know_. This is not a primitive wasteland. Well, our time might seem more primitive to you in some ways. We don't have McDonald's here, for one thing. So your breed is virtually extinct," Sian said, nodding at Fluttershy.

"Oh dear," she said.

"But we have progressed technologically. However, the toy code is still in place. Only a few people know that I can talk and think for myself. They set me in here to introduce you to the Hunger Games idea, because they knew you'd be mute and still if you encountered them."

"It is going to be a huge challenge for us to get used to being active while people are looking," Mrs. Potato Head said.

"I know how difficult it might be. I still get shivers myself when talking to Tyler and June, the two people I communicate with. But you are here for the Hunger Games, and you've got to participate."

"But to turn on our friends…" Hamm said.

""As I've said before, you do not have to fight the other toys, per se. Your main goal is to protect your human partner. We will have a banquet in which you will meet them, and they will make their selections."

"Great, I can't wait to meet them," Buzz said.

"Me either," Slinky said.

"Nor me," said one of the Peas-in-a-Pod.

"I'm more excited than both of you," said another Pea-in-a-Pod.

"Oh yeah? I'm more excited than both of you put together!" said the last Pea-in-a-Pod.

"That's the spirit I like to see!" Sian said.

The plush octopus began counting them. "It seems that a couple of toys didn't make it, We'll have to send out a message and hope that some other toys will come to take their place."

Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head looked at each other, then nodded. "Sian, if you don't mind, me and my wife would like to be together with one kid."

"Well, I don't know. We called you all here to be separate units."

"But when towo people are married," Mrs. Potato Head said, holding her husband's hand tightly, "they are as one."

"That's true. We still believe that today. Okay, since I have to call for a few others to replace the ones that didn't come, I guess one more won't hurt. But only if Hoopla agrees."

"Who's Hoopla?" Woody asked.

"The current Head Gamemaster. You've got to have Head Gamemaster to have a Hunger Games."

"Of course," Woody said, though he didn't know what a Head Gamemaster did, or what they had to do with anything.

"I suggest you prep up for the banquet," Sian said, heading toward a machine in the center. "I'll go talk to Tyler and June, and get other toys that are needed. And I'll see if Hoopla will allow the Potato Heads to serve together."

A glass tube formed around the octopus and he disappeardd.

"You're blushing," Twitch said to Stretch.

"I am not," Stretch said.

"You have a crush on Sian," Stretch sang out.

She smacked both of them with two of her tentacles. "Elastic toys do _not _get cruahses on plush ones."

"They get crushes on metallic ones!" Sparkx exclaimed. He got off the floor and scotted over toward her.

Stretch smacked him again.

"Anyone else want to make a comment?" Stretch asked. Everyone backed away from her.

On Bonnie's toys' side of the room, Woody and Buzz were trying to calm everyone down for meeting kids in their live state.

"We know ti's going to be tough," Woody said. "I remember all the times I had to remind myself to not tell Andy that we were alive and that we needed to be played with to attain fulfillment."

"Of course, Andy would not have tortured us, had he known we were alive. But in these 'Games,'" Buzz said, "the kids will not know that we're fully alive—they'll think we're being controlled."

"You think Sian can be trusted?" Hamm asked.

"We've got to believe him," Buzz said. "Otherwise, some of these kids might think it humorous to torture us."

"Oh come on, no one tortures anything maller than themselves," Rex said. "Right?"

"Lotso was bigger than a great many of the toys left in the caterpillar room," Chuckles the clown said.

"I don't believe kids are capable of torture," Totoro said.

"You never met Sid," Woody said.

"But Sid actually _stopped _torturing toys once he knew they were alive," Buzz said.

"That's because he went psycho," Woody said.

"You never told us about Sid before," Mr. Pricklepants adi.

"That's because he was long before we met you guys," Woody said. "Never had a reason to mention him before."

"The point is," Buzz said, "that we must meet these kids on terms other than we do with Bonnie. We must be ourselves. Our livelyk, active selves, that is."

"This is just so weird," Fluttershy said.

"Don' worry; I'll keep you company," Buttercup said.

"That's sweet," said Fluttershy.

"Except that the kids you two will be partnered with will be opponents in these 'Games,'" Buzz said.

"Speaking of which, I wonder how these 'Games' work," Slinky said. "Is it like a giant chessboard? Or will all kids have battleships, and we'll be fighting on the sea?"

"I'm not sure we would be here to protect the kids if we're on the sea," Dolly remarked.

"Wait, we're supposed to protect our human partners? But I can't defend anything!" Fluttershy wailed.

"What if one of us keeps out kid close to your kid, making them promise not to harm your kid and to protect him or her if they get attacked?" Buzz said.

"That would be nice," Fluttershy said.

"We could even take turns," Buzz suggested. "And none of the partners we have will attack Fluttershy's kid. All who agree say, 'Aye.'"

All of Bonnie's toys said "Aye!", except Bullseye, who nodded vigorously.

Just then, Sian returned via a tube. The tube quickly vanished. "I have great news. The other toys will arrive shortly."

"What about us?" Mr. Potatoe Head said, indicating himself and his wife.

"Hoopla will allow you two to serve as a unit."

"Hooray!" Mrs. Potato Head said, hugghing her husband.

"Here come the newcomers now," Sian said.

Two new toys appeared. They were also from Sunnyside Day Care, Emperor Zurg and Hiccup the elephant, who had sneezed feathers when those of Bonnie's toys that had belonged to Andy first arrive.

"Hmm, there should be two more," Sian said. "Oh, there they are."

Another flash of light brought tt a couple of other toys. One was a n orange crab that had a heart-shaped tag with the letters TY on it. The other was a weaird thing with a long neck and a head with little green knobs where its ears should be. It reminded Woody of a Coca Cola bottle. Except that it was humanoid in appearance, . The long neck made it seem more like a human giraffe, though. It had a green tuft of hair atop its head and a large oval nose, which was red but showed paint marks with some flecks of green beneath.

"Jibber," the creature with the long neck said.

"I've heard of these things," Buzz said. "It's called a Jibber-Jabber."

"Jibber," the thing repeated.

Woody scooted fart away from him.

"Now that we are all gathered here," Sian said, "I will make the full announcement. Everyone, welcome to the Hunge Games. I'm sure the one who were here for the first announcements will orientate the others. I want you all to give it everything you've got. This will be the most highly anticipated Hunger Games in history, we expect. Even higher than last years, which was a Third Quarter Quell, meaning there were forty-eight participants.

"Technically, there are forty-eight participants this year too. But twenty-four of them are toys. Oops, twenty-five, since the Potato Heads are going as one unti.

"Only one kid and toy is allowed to win. I want this to be very clear. If it comes down to the last two kids and toys, and you toys are best friends, you must take out your best friend. Give it all you've got."

"But you said we're not here to attack each other," Slinky said.

"You don't have to, but since you are defending a kid and the kid who you are defending him against also has a toy defending him, you will probably come in a fair deal. But here's the ticket—if you are one of the last two toys standing, you are obligated to fight. You have no choice in the matter."

"This sounds frightful," Trixie said. She didn't know what to do if she were obligated to fight Rex. It was one thing when they were opponents in a video game, but here it would be different.

"And if we refuse to fight our friends?" Jessie said.

"You will fight, if you want to win. But more importantly, you will fight if you want to stay _alive_."

"Are you threatening us, mister?" Jessie asked.

The octopus smiled broadly. "Me? Threaten? No, it's not I you have to worry about, but President Snow."

"Who is President Snow?" Woody asked.

"Someone you do _not _want to screw over," Sian said. "See you uys at the banquet." He waved at them and started up the machine he sat upon again.

"Wait, where are you going?" Dolly demanded to know.

"I am going to let you guys enjoy one final tete a tete before you becomes enemies who were once friends," Sian said. A tube appeared around him and a moment later, he was gone.

"I'm going to go knock the stuffing out of him," Stretch said. She climbed the machine and pressed a button. Nothing happened. She pressed another button. Still nothing. Then she put all her tentacles on different button and pressed them. A whistling tune rose in the air for a moment, then died away. Stretch punched buttons rapidly, angrily…but nothing more happened then another tune or two.

"Let me try," Slinky said. "He stepped back and leaped forward, hitting a button at the same time Stretch punched another button. The machine made a groaning noise then sent Stretch and Slinky spiraling into the air as it exploded.

"Guess that guy won't be coming back," Sparks said, examining the remains of the machine.

"Since we are not familiar with futrusitic technology," Buzz said, "let's assume that he will come back and prepare for the banquet."

"You don'/t want to give in to his demands, do you?" Woody asked.

"Of course not. But all we can do right now is made ourselves tidy presentable for the kids we will be working with. Just think of it as another adventure, and wew'll pull through."

"Right," Woody said, nodding.

The Emperor Zurg and the Jibber-Jabber went over to the toys from Sunnyside Day Care to find out what was going on. The orange crab and Hiccup the elephant approached Bonnie's toys.

"I'm Digger," the orange crab said. "I'm a Beanie Baby."

"Andy had a few of those for a little while," Jessie said."Till they got put in a yard sale."

"I've been passed through eBay a lot," Digger said. "It's not much fun to be mailed over and over."

I know the feeling," Jessie said.

"What's the setup for this contest?" the elephant asked. "I kknow tat octopus said something about killing each other, but did he say we'll be working with kids, too?"

"That's right," said Buttercup. "We will have kid partners."

"But isn't that against the Toy Code?"

"They will think we're being controlled."

"Oh. I'm not sure I like it, either way." The elephant then sneezed.

"We don't either," Mr. Pricklepants adi. "But we'll make the best of it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Toy Against Toy**

**Chapter Three**

The kids in Ms. Frizzle's class were on the Magic Schoo Bus in Minnesota. All except for Dorothy Anne, who hadn't shown up before ten, and as Ms. Frizzle had said, there's have been no time to do anything had they not left then. So they commenced the travel across fifty states in six hours. The Magic School Bus could take it.

They had been parked for the past twenty-eight minutes while Mrs. Frizzle went on a stroll with Liz. Carlos and Wanda were in the front, with Janet and Mikey in the very back, as the back was the only placwe to hook up a wheelchair,the seats usually taking up that space being absorbed by the bus' own mechanism.

"Stop messing with those buttons, Carlios."

"I'm just trying to have a little fun, Wanda."

"Idf you cause the bus to disintegrate, it will not be fun."

"I'm sure Ms. Frizzle would have kept that eventuality from jhappening."

"I wonder what's talong her so long," Kiesha said.

"At my old school, teachers didn't leave students alone on a bus for half an hour."

"We're not at your old school, Phoebe," Wanda said.

The glass doors opened and four kids climbed aboard, two boys and two girls. One of the boys wore a backwards red cap. One girl had dark hair while the othewr girl's hair was strawberry-blonde. The boy had very light hair.

"Excuse me, but this is our school bus."

"Of course it is," said one of the girls. "We just thought we might check it out. Something odd is happening in Bailey City."

"As per usual," said the boy with a backwards cap.

"Shouldn't you guys be in school?" Arnold asked.

"Shouldn't you?" one of the girls who had just come up adked, shrewdly. She had dark hair.

"We're on a school bus," Kiesha said. "You four were just walking around."

"Right," said the boy with light hair, who seemedf quite bashful.

"No point in standing around," the boy with a backwards red cap said. He grabbed Phoebe's hand and pulled her toward the back of the bus. She seemed startled but went with him.

"What are a bunch of kids doing unsupervised on a school bus?" the girl with dark hair asked.

"Our teacher has left us for a while," Carlos said.

"She'll be back soon," Wanda said.

"Well, our teacher's a vampire," said the girl with strawberry-blond hair.

"Liz! They won't believe us."

"Your name is Liz?" Ralph asked the girl with strawberry haur, who had piqued his interest.

She nodded.

"We have a pet lizard named Liz. Class pet, I mean."

"I'm not a lizard!" Liz screamed, her cheeks flushed.

"I didn't mean to imply that," Ralph said. "Please sit next to me."

She took a seat on the aisle across from him. He scooted over to be near her. She did not move but stared down at her nails.

"It's fie by me if you think your teacher is a vampire," Ralph said.

"Vampppire-teachers are nothing on magic school buses," Wanda said.

"Excuse me, did you say magic?" the girl with dark hair asked.

"Yeah. This school bus can do all sorts of things."

"Like what?"

"Turn into a spaceship or a submarine or shrink or drill through the earth," Carlos said.

"That's impossible."

"No, it's not. I'll show you."

Carlos punched a button and the ground shook beneath them. They all felt as if the were being peeled back, and somehow a negative integer hung over them.

"I think I know what an orange feels like now," Kiesha said.

The bus had come to a stop. All the seats looked different, somehow.

""Carlos, what did you do?" Wanda yelped.

"I just pushed a button, that's all."

"And turned the bus into a boxcar, from the looks of it,' Kiesha said, coming in.

"Hey, is that a clock?" the girl with dark hair asked.

Several heads turned to it.

"Yeah, it looks to be one," said the boy with light hair.

"What time does it say?"

The boy with light hair crept closer. He puzzled over it for a moment, before saying, "It seems that the hands are indicating that it is the seventy-ninth year of the twentieth century."

"1979! Egads! That's a couple of decades ago."

"Carlos, I'm manning the controls from now on," Wanda said. "We are going back to the present."

She sat down and was about to press a button that would activate the time panel on the mainframe, when there was a knock on the door.

Carlos pulled down the lever to open the bus doors…..the bus could've opened them itself, but it preferred to let Carlos do the work this time. Wanda glared at Carlos but put on a passive look when the four newcomers stepped on board.

"We're trying to solve a mystery," said the youngest, a boy of eight.

"Cool, I like mysteries," the girl with dark hair said. The boy smiled at her.

"Geez, Benny. You don't have to blab to everybody," said the twelve-year-old girl who had come on the bus. She wore a violet-colored shirt.

"Look, I'm sorry guys, but the bus is rather full," Wanda said, waving for the four newest people to leave.

"It's a boxcar, not a bus," the fourteen-year-old girl who had just stepped on the bus said. She was the second oldest person present, the boy next to her being the eldest. He looked to be fifteen.

"That's what I meant, boxcar," Wanda said.

"You said bus."

"Tongue slip, you know?"

"No, I don't. A boxcar is a boxcar and a bus is a bus."

"We might as well tell them, Wand," Carlos said. He faced the fourteen-year-old girl and said, "This bus _is _a boxcar right now. But it also can turn into a Ferrari or an airplane or a—"

"Time machine!" the twelve-year-old girl exclaimed, her eyes on the clock.

"It's just a clock," Wanda said. "It goes forward in time based on the year, sixty seconds a minute."

"Then why is there a red line traveling from 1999 all the way back to 1979?"

"Carlos drew it with a marker."

"No, I didn't, Wand. We might as well just tell them the truth."

"We don't need a quarto of 1979ers to go blab that time-travel is possible."

The fifteen-year-old boy laughed heartily. "What did you call us?"

"Nineteen seventy-niners."

"Not that. The other word."

"A quarto."

He continued laughing. Wanda gave him a stare and he stopped after a moment.

"Sorry, it's just that I never thought me and my siblings would be called after one of the methods Shakespeare's plays were distributed in his day."

"We should introduce ourselves," the girl with dark hair said. "I mean, there are how many of us here? And we don't know each other's names."

"I'm Carlos, she's Wanda."

"I'm Melody," said the girl with dark hair. "You know Liz' name, and that's Howie."

The boy with light hair waved.

"My name's Henry," said the fifteen-year-old boy. "This is my sister Jessie, and that there is Violet."

"Our youngest brother is Benjamin," said the girl with a violet-colored shirt.

"Benny," the boy corrected, gazing out of the window. Melody waited for her moment to talk to him. She wanted the introductions to be carried out, first.

Once everyone had introduced themselves, except Janet and Mikey, and Phoebe and the boy with a backwards hat (Melody said he was called Eddie), Wanda went back to the controls.

"Aha!" she said at last, punching a button.

Suddenly they felt as if a peel was enveloping around them. All except Henry, Violet, Jessie, and Benny felt this, but they felt a cocoon forming around them. As did everyone else, once they crossed the 1999 mark on the clock. After that, it was as if the cocoon had been placed in a burlap sack, the burlap sack in a cardboard box, the box in a refrigerator, the refrigerator in a safe, the safe on a sailboar, the sailboat on a frigate, the frigate on an airplane, and the plane in a building the size of the pentagon. And the hands on the clock moved faster and faster, till they came to a dead stop on a small, thin number, 2776.

"Look who's sent us whirling through time _now_," Carlos said.

"I didn't mean it!" Wanda exclaimed. She was rapidly punching at the controls, when the bus' doors opened and its tongue reached in, causing them all to stick to it by saliva and pulled them, our dropping them on the groujnd.

They were in a dome-shaped building, and they looked around dazed.

"Where are we?"

"Youa re in Panem," said a man with a bristly mustache.

"What's Panem?" Melody asked.

"A place that welcomes you…as Tributes."

He grinned at them maliciously.


End file.
